


Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

by boldlygoingnowherefast



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Holidays, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28657782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boldlygoingnowherefast/pseuds/boldlygoingnowherefast
Summary: A Candlenights celebration, a snowstorm, a last-minute grocery store trip, and an unattended pot of sauce.When the whole gang gets together, there's bound to be some chaos.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 12
Collections: The Candlenights Zone (2020 Exchange)





	Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [room_on_broom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/room_on_broom/gifts).



> This is a super silly thing for [@room-on-broom](https://room-on-broom.tumblr.com) for the TAZ Candlenights 2020 Exchange! I hope you like it!

The snow had been coming down steadily for around five hours, and by now it had climbed a few inches up the side of the house, entirely covering the roads and blanketing the sidewalks in a thick carpet of frigid white.

Taako glanced out the kitchen window and sighed. “Not sure how much I’m loving the winter wonderland.”

Killian, who was making eggnog at the center island in the kitchen, glanced up at him. “Really? I love the snow. Makes being inside that much cozier.”

Lup sidled up next to Taako at the stove to peek into the pot he was stirring. “We didn’t get snowstorms on our old planet—at least, not where we lived,” she said as Taako hip-checked her away from the pot. She turned back to Killian, unbothered by the scuffle. “I think it’s neat, personally.”

Taako frowned at her back. “We don’t all have complete mastery of fire magic and the ability to teleport.”

“I only teleport for _work.”_

“That’s a lie,” Kravitz said as he stepped into the kitchen with them. “I have definitely seen you use teleportation for things other than work.”

“Me too,” Taako replied. “Not your best lie there, Lulu.”

“Okay, fine. But I’ve never teleported to avoid the snow, so my point still stands.”

They were all packed into Lup and Barry’s house in Neverwinter, a happy conglomeration of Bureau staff and all of the Seven Birds. Taako found the crowd nearly overwhelming, but in a way that made his chest tingle with a warmth he had been unaccustomed to for the twelve years the Voidfish had kept him in the dark. This was bright, bursting happiness that he almost didn’t know what to do with.

“Eggnog’s done,” Killian announced, and almost out of nowhere, Avi was at her side.

“Nog time,” he said with a wide smile.

“I promised Carey first cup,” Killian replied, and Carey popped up beside Avi as if on cue. The grin on her face had a wicked edge as Killian ladled some eggnog into a mug and handed it over. Avi eyed her jealously as she took a long sip.

“This is _it,”_ she proclaimed. “The only reason to celebrate Candlenights.”

Taako gestured with his sauce spoon. “Wait until you try my chocolate pumpkin pie.”

Lup, who had found her position in line to get a cup of eggnog, frowned. “You were planning to make chocolate pumpkin pie?”

“Yes. It’s an entire thing, Lup. Chocolate pumpkin on the first night of Candlenights.”

Lup shook her head. “I thought pecan was the first night of Candlenights thing.”

“Well, it’s not.”

The rest of the crowd in the kitchen was watching them with rapt attention. Killian had paused in her act of ladling, and the eggnog dripped sluggishly back into the serving bowl.

“Taako, I didn’t pick up the ingredients for chocolate pumpkin pie.”

The silence got thicker.

Taako glanced out at the storm outside. The snowfall was nothing but a light sprinkle at the moment, but the blanket of snow on the ground was intimidating. “The store’s only just down the street. I could use the fresh air,” he said finally.

“I could head over there for you. I’ll just teleport,” Kravitz offered.

“After you were just ragging on me for using my teleportation for non-work reasons?” Lup asked with a scoff.

“I was only pointing out your lie.”

Taako waved them both off. “No, I’ll do it. I’m the only one who can choose the right brands, anyway.”

Davenport poked his head into the kitchen. “Are you going to the store? I’ll come with you.” He waved the empty fifth in his hand. “I’m out of bourbon.”

“See, I have company,” Taako said to his doubtful friends. “Don’t even worry. We can’t do Candlenights without the chocolate pumpkin pie.”

Lup moved up to the stove. “You’re not done with the sauce for the turkey.”

“You can watch it while I’m gone. It’s just simmering right now. It’s thickening.”

Lup took the proffered spoon from Taako. “Don’t freeze out there.”

Taako gave her a cheeky salute. “A little snow is not enough to end ol’ Taako.”

Lup hummed doubtfully.

Taako and Davenport moved into the living room where the rest of the party was playing cards or sitting near the fire chatting. Merle was in the middle of telling Angus about a Kenny Chesney concert he had attended a few years’ back, and Angus had the blank expression nearly anyone got when Merle was telling a long, drawn-out story. Taako was glad he was going out into the snow and not sitting there with Angus.

“Is that all you’re wearing?” Davenport asked, gesturing at Taako’s outfit of somewhat shoddy boots and a jacket that probably wasn’t thick enough for the weather they were about to step into. Davenport himself was wearing a heavy coat with a furred collar and steel-toed boots.

“All I got, boss,” Taako replied.

Something heavy dropped over his shoulders, and Taako looked up to see Killian had given him her own coat. “You will literally die out there. Borrow mine.”

It was thick and wool and immediately warm, and it matched the flare of warmth in his chest at the gesture. “Oh dope. Thanks.” It was way too big for him when he tucked his arms into it, but Taako knew it would serve him much better out in the storm.

When they stepped outside, the cold was immediate, and Taako’s feet sunk into the snow up to his ankles. “Ugh.”

“We could take my bike?” Davenport offered.

“The store is literally just down the street,” Taako replied. “We can walk.”

Davenport shrugged and started trudging towards the street, unbothered by the snow that was up to his shins.

It was a short walk, but a cold one, and by the time they stepped into the grocery store, Taako’s toes were numb and achy.

“Let’s make this quick,” he said, and Davenport nodded before making a beeline for the liquor aisle.

“Lup, we have a situation,” Barry called from outside the kitchen, and Killian watched as Lup frowned and headed out of the kitchen.

“What is it?” she asked, and Barry’s response was out of Killian’s earshot as they both walked briskly away. 

Killian ladled a cup of eggnog for Avi, who was already on his second, and then put down the ladle. Anyone else who wanted some could pour it themselves. She picked up her own glass and took a long sip. Spiced and full of enough alcohol to make her nose prickle. Perfect.

Lup did not return to the kitchen.

“Do you think we should, like, stir that?” Avi asked. The pot of sauce sat unattended.

Killian’s gaze darted to the kitchen door and back to the stove. “I don’t want to mess with it.”

Carey set her cup of eggnog down. “Okay, but if it gets burned, Taako will kill all of us.”

“He left the task to Lup,” Killian replied.

“And Lup is dealing with something else! We can’t just let it burn,” Avi replied, eyes wide. Without any more prompting, he moved up to the stove and picked up where Lup had left off, stirring the sauce lightly.

Killian and Carey watched him nervously.

“I’m sure Lup will quick,” he said with a shrug.

Taako was just putting the bars of chocolate in his basket when Davenport joined him again, holding a fresh fifth of Fantasy Jim Beam.

“Do you think I should make a fruit pie as well? Give the people options?”

“Whatever you think’s best,” Davenport replied.

“Would you eat it, if I made it?” Taako asked.

“I’ll eat anything you make.”

Taako sighed. “I’ve been craving apple pie. Let’s go choose some apples. And I think I’m going to need more graham cracker for the pie crusts.”

Ten minutes had passed, and Lup was still not back.

“Should this be boiling, do you think?” Avi asked. He was peering down into the pot with a frown. “It’s boiling.”

“Didn’t Taako say it should simmer? I’m pretty sure simmer isn’t boiling,” Killian replied, moving up beside Avi to peer into the pot.

“But Lup set the temperature,” Carey said from her spot on the other side of the kitchen island. “She definitely knows more than we do.”

“Does Kravitz know how to cook this sauce?” Avi asked. “He’s had to have seen Taako make it.”

“I’ll go ask him,” Carey said and darted out of the kitchen.

“I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be boiling,” Avi said, and he reached for the temperature dial. Killian dragged his hand away.

“Let’s just wait to see what Kravitz has to say.”

Kravitz had a half-eaten candy cane in his hand and the expression of someone who is a little bit too tipsy to be worried about the finer points of cooking when Carey dragged him into the kitchen. He allowed himself to be tugged up to the stove and stared down into the pot with a squinty expression. “You said this is the sauce for the turkey?” he asked. He shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t really pay attention to what Taako does when he cooks. I just watch him. He’s cute.”

Carey groaned, and Avi reached forward to turn the heat down. “No use risking it,” he mumbled, and Killian didn’t stop him this time.

“Sorry for not being more help,” Kravitz said. “But seriously, don’t let that burn. Taako will have a fit.”

Carey pushed him out of the kitchen. “Go find Lup, would you?”

Taako picked up another apple and turned it around carefully, looking for bruises.

“Why does it matter what they look like if you’re just making a pie out of them?”

Taako shook his head. “Don’t question the process, man.”

“It’s snowing again,” Davenport said, gesturing towards the exit. “Maybe we should hurry this along.”

Taako sighed and shoved the last apple into the bag. “Alright. I’m ready to go.”

They proceeded to the checkout, Davenport with his single bottle of alcohol and Taako with his small basket of ingredients. “Do you think we need any other alcohol?” Taako asked. “Those cretins go through it like nobody’s business.”

“I only know that I won’t be sharing this,” Davenport replied.

“One sec. I’m gonna grab a bottle of rum.”

Davenport nodded and lingered by the checkout.

“Lucretia, did you see where Lup and Barry went?” Killian asked, and Lucretia looked up from her book.

“I didn’t,” Lucretia replied. “I was a bit distracted, I’m sorry.”

“Apparently something was going on with one of their experiments?” Magnus piped in. “I think they went out to the shed.”

Killian sighed. “I probably shouldn’t bother them then, huh.”

“Something might explode,” Magnus agreed.

Avi cursed from inside the kitchen.

“Everything alright in there?” Lucretia asked.

Killian winced. “Taako was in the middle of making his sauce for the turkey when he went to the store, and he left Lup in charge of watching it. She left without saying anything, and none of know what’s supposed to be happening with it.”

“I can help!” Magnus chirped, shooting up from his spot in the armchair and hurrying into the kitchen.

Lucretia grimaced. “Good luck.” She leaned in towards Killian and her voice went low. “Magnus doesn’t know how to cook.”

Killian returned to the kitchen quickly to see Avi and Magnus bickering at the stove. She shot Carey a glance, and Carey shook her head.

The snow was coming down in earnest now, and Taako had to hold a hand over his eyes to see where he was going. The sun was beginning to go down, and he knew that soon it would be impossible to see out here.

“Bracing, isn’t it?” Davenport said, grinning under his curled mustache.

“Annoying, more like.” Taako shifted his bag higher against his shoulder and leaned forward into the wind. “I can see the house, thank god.”

“Everything alright in here?” Lup asked, and four heads turned her way. Avi and Magnus stopped trying to tug the spoon from each other’s hands. “ _Shit_ , the sauce.” She hurried over to the stove. “Oh good, you guys kept it simmering.”

Avi grinned triumphantly, and Killian let her shoulders drop in relief.

Lup checked the oven timer for the turkey, stirred the sauce a few times, and then leaned back against the counter. “Sorry about that. There was a science emergency. Thanks for keeping an eye on things in here.”

Taako kicked the snow off his boots and heaved the front door open before stepping into the blessed heat. His toes were numb and he was sure his nose was bright pink from the bite of the cold. He brushed snow out of his hair as Davenport stepped inside after him and closed the door.

Taako hung Killian’s coat carefully on the coat hooks by the door and pried the boots off his feet, hoping his toes would thaw in the heat of the house. When he made his way into the kitchen, it was to a similar scene he had left. Killian and Carey were chatting by the bowl of eggnog, and Avi was teasing Lup about something while she stirred the sauce.

“Taako’s back,” Taako announced, and Lup stepped away from the stove with a little bow.

“Your chariot, my liege.” 

Taako set the grocery bag on the counter and moved back to the stove. “Smells divine. Let’s get this turkey sauced.” If Killian, Carey, and Avi were watching him a little closer than normal, Taako chalked it up to them being hungry.

The table was set, the chocolate pumpkin pie was in the oven, and all of Taako’s friends and family were gathered around the table he had enchanted to fit them all. There was amazing food, great drinks, and lots of smiling faces. Taako felt warm inside and out, and his toes had even warmed up—Taako was happy, happier than he had ever imagined possible.

Lup nudged him with her elbow as they started filling their plates with food. “You outdid yourself here, Taako. It looks amazing.”

“It’s nice to be cooking for people again.”

The room got quiet for a while as people stuffed their faces, and Taako allowed himself a moment to simply watch all of them, here together for Candlenights, even though they spent a large portion of their year in very different places from one another.

“Yo Taako, pass the potatoes, would you?” Avi called, and it broke through his thoughts.

Taako passed the bowl over and tuned into the conversation Kravitz and Killian were having about music. He smiled at the animated expression on Kravitz’ face.

The turkey was a hit, and the sauce was just as good as Taako remembered it being.

Later, there was the best chocolate pumpkin pie they had ever had, and an apple pie to rival it. Even later, there was Kravitz on piano and the soft haze of too much food and alcohol and a comfortable living room. If Taako dozed on the couch, none of his friends said anything about it, all caught up in the Candlenights cheer and the feeling of being among friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://paisleycowboys.tumblr.com)


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